Master planned areas

Existing master planned areas were typically greenfield sites, that are in the process of transitioning from rural or non-urban land to urban land. In some cases, the area also required additional detailed planning to facilitate the desired future development.

The former Chapter 4, Planning Partnerships, of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA) gave provisional powers to the planning minister, the Minister for Regional Planning or a local government to identify areas as a master planned area.

Amendments to the Act by the Sustainable Planning and Other Legislation Amendment Act (No 2) 2012, assented to on 22 November 2012, removed the planning partnership arrangements of master planned areas.

Use and development rights established by existing structure plans and master plans for declared master planned areas are protected through transitional provisions. The amendments to the Act required that local governments transition the structure plans into their planning scheme within 3 years.

Master plan applications

Changes to the Act protected any existing master plan applications and enable them to continue to be assessed and decided against the provisions of the former Chapter 4 of the Act. However, no new master plan applications can be made.

Further information

On 3 July 2017, Queensland started operating under new planning legislation – the Planning Act 2016. Information on this page relates to the previous legislation – the Sustainable Planning Act 2009. Learn more about the new planning system.